YPT In The News

Published in DC Metro Theater Arts, February 23, 2019

“They call me a vegetable,” Grace tells us. “They call me a corpse.” In this nimbly comic and deeply moving new play by Josie Walyus, a 14-year-old named Grace is literally in a coma. That’s how all the other characters see her: She suffered brain damage in an auto accident and is thisclose to dead. But in a brilliant theatrical stroke, Walyus portrays her title character fully awake and engaged..."

Published in DC Metro Theater Arts, March 11, 2018

Post-Play Palaver is an occasional series of conversations between DC Metro Theater Arts writers who saw the same performance, got really into talking about it, and decided to continue their exchange in writing. That’s what happened when Senior Reviewers Sherrita Wilkins and John Stoltenberg attended a one-night-only program on the theme of gentrification and environmental change in Washington, DC, presented by Young Playwrights’ Theater as part of its annual social-justice performance series, Silence Is Violence.

Published in Washington Blade, November 9, 2017

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Oct. 30 that the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs has awarded a combined $75,000 in grant funding to six community-based organizations for services to LGBT homeless youth and families in the District.

Published in American Theatre Magazine, September 26, 2017

As part of this special issue’s dive into the art of season planning, we wanted to showcase some of the most exciting seasons and productions at theatres throughout the country. So we asked a group that knows a thing or two about programming, artistic leaders across the U.S., which companies’ seasons they were most looking forward to this year.

Published in Huffington Post, June 2, 2017

It’s had to believe 15 years ago Barbara Harman’s vision has grown into what is now the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. Today the Catalogue unveiled its Class of 2017-18. These nonprofits have been chosen to appear in the print Catalogue (to be released November 1st) and/or to be featured on the Catalogue’s website.

The charities listed below have successfully passed a rigorous review process conducted by a team of 120+ experts in the local philanthropic field. Let them know that you are proud of their achievements: congratulate them with a “shout out” on Twitter using the icons next to their names.

Published in Hola Cultura, February 6, 2017

D.C.’s Young Playwrights’ Theater first conceived “Silence is Violence: What Now?” in response to the 2015 death of Michael Brown that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. This winter, however, the nationally recognized youth theater is collaborating with area public schools and arts organizations to stage its third iteration of the social justice theater project—this time to shine light and love on our large local immigrant communities.

Published in Hopeful Headlines, October 6, 2016

For many children in this country, opportunity is few and far between.

Their voices are rarely heard, their personal struggles are passed over, and the adults in their lives make all of the decisions—and lack thereof—for them.

Fortunately, one Washington, D.C. nonprofit has been changing the script for thousands of kids from communities that are often overlooked. Primarily, these students are considered “low-income,” with 77% qualifying for the statewide free and reduced-price lunch program and 20% speaking English as their second language.

Published in GOOD Magazine's Project Literacy

In July, 2016, GOOD Magazine's Project Literacy featured YPT in an article on theater and literacy, as part of their Alphabet of Illiteracy campaign! Our story falls under the letter P, for performance.

"For many ... students, YPT marks the first time they’re encouraged to write about whatever they want without censorship. 'Treating those stories with value can do wonders for students’ engagement in the educational process and trigger amazing advances in literacy,' [YPT Executive Director Brigitte] Winter says."

"Reflecting back on my time with Young Playwrights’ Theater has made me think about how so many unique stories are hidden within the crevices of people’s minds and how beneficial this program and programs akin to it are for young, aspiring artists."

by 2016 New Play Festival Featured Playwright Marisa Poe

2016 New Play Festival Featured Playwright Marisa Poe also wrote a piece for DC Metro Theater Arts, and it is just as touching and articulate as Jarid's!

"When my play was read, the actors made it absolutely hilarious, and it was the first time I really saw my play come to life. It made me feel proud that I could make other people laugh through my play."

YPT actor and DC Metro Theater Arts critic Rick Westerkamp starred in the first night of the 2015 New Play Festival, then wrote about it the next day! Read his unique and inspiring perspective on working with elementary school playwrights.

"It was during the rehearsal process that I became in awe of the six playwrights, what with their abilities to use a genuine blend of real-life and imagination as the spark of creation for their plays."

"For two decades, DC’s own Young Playwrights’ Theater has fostered the minds of budding young writers by helping them discover their own theatrical visions." Thus begins a lovely preview of the 2015 ...

Afro American Newspaper of DC Shares Performance with Southeast Community

"Four young, Black high school students are [sharing] their stories on an array of issues that are important to them ... in plays that are set to make audiences cry, laugh, and perch on the edge of their seats."

After being named a Finalist two years running, we were honored and humbled to receive the 2014 Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management, from The Center for Nonprofit Advancement and The Washington Post! The recognition is a true testament to the power of our work and our community.

While we continue to deepen YPT's impact at home in DC, major media outlets in South Texas are sharing our work at Garcia Elementary School in Hidalgo County - and the news keeps getting better and better!

Read what The Monitor, South Texas' largest newspaper, had to say about the difference our In-School Playwriting Program is making with Garcia's bilingual, imaginative and excited fourth graders!

The leading source of the "who, what, when and where" of the Washington, DC social, professional and philanthropic scene, Pamela's Punch sets the standard for the premier events in the District. Correspondent Lindsey Clark attended our 2014 Giving Voice Award Gala and wrote this wonderful piece encouraging people to come out and support arts education!

Click here to read the article, and click here to see all of Pamela's Punch's past coverage of YPT events and performances!

"If we start saying, 'Your voice matters' instead of 'Wait until you’re older,' perhaps the next generation will be more inclined to raise their voice and claim their space. YPT performing student plays is activism in its most direct form."

Read all this and more in DCTS's wonderful review of New Writers Now! Truth and Dare!

In January, 2014, YPT launched its first In-School Playwriting Program outside Greater Washington at Garcia Elementary School in Hidalgo County, Texas. Local newspaper The Valley Town Crier broke the story with a wonderful piece on our program launch and visit to the area!

Motor City blog Detroit Unspun wrote a terrific piece on the 524 Project, the collaboration between YPT and Detroit's InsideOut Literary Arts Project that will connect a Detroit poetry class and a DC playwriting class via twenty-first century technology.

"If we listen closely, I think we’ll hear a new definition of Detroit, one that accepts the past, redefines the present and gives us fresh perspective on the future."

Positive Detroit, a blog dedicated to "churning out positive, important, and newsworthy happenings in and around 'The D'," featured the 524 Project as just such a bright light in a city that's seen its fair share of darkness!

We Love DC interviewed Artistic Director Nicole Jost in June 2013 about the Young Playwrights’ Workshop Presents performance in the Source Festival.

"This kind of self-expression builds confidence. It helps you realize your own power. So I hope that this year’s workshop members gain a sense of pride in their own work, and the knowledge that they can do absolutely anything they set their minds to."

The Scene DMV attended the 2013 New Play Festival to learn more about YPT’s programs and performances from Executive Director Brigitte Moore, Festival playwright Gi’Armoni Dorsey and YPT alumna Cecelia Jenkins.

"When Chelsea Kirk first started teaching playwriting to her students at the Maya Angelou Academy — a public charter school located within New Beginnings, a residential detention center for D.C. youth — she found it to be ’by far the most defining experience for my scholars and our school culture.’"

YPT's first nationally-published book, Write to Dream, features the work of four amazing Arlington playwrights. Get to know three of them and hear from their parents about YPT's lasting effect in the Arlington Connection.

“Having a creative outlet is really important. It’s kind of hard to, ineveryday life or in school assignments, put your emotions out on paper,” said Boomsma. “A lot of people who write are able to express their feelings in a story. I think that’s really helpful to do.”

YPT recently participated in the first ever #GivingTuesday, and donor and Company member Vanessa Strickland was interviewed in the Washington Post about why she chose to support YPT on a day of giving back. Read the full article here.

The Washington Post highlights YPT as a collaborative, innovative nonprofit in this article. The Post sponsors the Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management, an award YPT was honored as a finalist for in May of 2012.

In May of 2012, YPT was honored as a finalist for the Washington Post’s 2012 Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management. Learn more about the award here and read a blog post on the award by Catalog for Philanthropy here.

"In case you haven’t noticed, the DC theater community is growing, and fast; but what kind of plays can we look forward to down the road? If you’re interested in the future of DC theater, there’s no better place to look than toward our youngest playwrights." Click here to read the full article!

On February 14, 2012, DC Theatre Scene’s Larry Bangs wrote a rave review of New Writers Now - Mad Love! A week later, on February 21, Larry was interviewed by WTOP’s Bob Madigan about his review! Listen here.

"With all due respect to the well-heeled professional companies in D.C., these kids wrote some of the freshest, most vibrant, and flat-out funny theatre that I have seen since last summer’s Fringe Festival."

"I know that as I reflect on important moments in my life when I truly learned something, most of them didn’t happen sitting silently at a desk." Click here to read more about why theater matters--especially for young people.

DC Theatre Scene and Maryland Theatre Guide loved the Young Playwrights’ Workshop’s performance of Out of the Shadow at the Capital Fringe Festival! Check out the DC Theatre Scene review here and the Maryland Theatre Guide review here.

New Writers Now! - Luv in the Time of Txting playwright Fatima Rodriguez was featured in an article in El Pregonero. Read about her experience with YPT’s In-School Playwriting Program and the live performance of her play on May 23.

The Young Plawrights’ Theater will receive the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award in a private White House ceremony today. The award – the highest honor in arts education – will be presented by first lady Michelle Obama to director David Snider and program participants Heidi Lovo, a graduate of Bell Multicultural High School, and Mariana Pavón Sánchez, a student at Wakefield High School in Arlington.

First lady Michelle Obama will present a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award Wednesday to the Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT), which teaches playwriting in Washington area schools. YPT will receive $10,000 to expand its programming.

President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities

Young Playwrights’ Theater has been chosen for recognition as a 2010 Coming Up Taller Semifinalist by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and its partner agencies, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

YPT was chosen as one of 50 semifinalists from over 459 nominations from 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. According to the letter we received on May 12, "Your program’s selection as one of the 50 semifinalists distinquishes it as one of the top arts- and humanities- based programs in the country."

The letter was signed by Rachel Goslins, Executive Director of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, Marsha Semmel, Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, and James A. Leach, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Award recipients will be chosen from among the semi-finalists by the end of June.

Georgetown University News

YPT was the recent beneficiary of an award from students in Georgetown’s "Philanthropy and Social Change" course. The following article details the innovative course and partnership that led to this...

Washington Post, Wednesday, February 24, 2010

by DeNeen L. Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer

Photo by Michael S. Williamson/Washington Post

Gentrification was the subject the students in the Young Playwrights’ Theater were assigned to tackle and make into a play. Some students had never heard of the word, although they were living in the midst of it, walking through it each school day in Columbia Heights where their after-school program on playwriting is located. Watching stores go up and trees come down, and neighbors disappearing and new people coming in and the bright lights of Target and Best Buy replacing dingy old buildings. At least some people thought they were dingy.

The Washington Post, Backstage, Jane Horwitz

Washington Post, May 8, 2009

By Ellen McCarthy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 8, 2009

Karen Zacarías, mother of three children younger than 8 years old, begins her day by serving breakfast. Then it’s a book read, shoes on, car seats buckled, a song sung, kids dropped at appropriate locations, a kiss goodbye. Once that routine is complete, she will shower -- finally -- and become her other self: the 39-year-old woman who has emerged as one of Washington’s most successful and prolific playwrights.

May 15, 2009

Stephanie Kay of local NPR station WAMU 88.5 produced three separate pieces on YPT’s play Choosing Change in the past week. The longest of these aired May 15, 2009. See below for links to each of the pieces.

To listen to the story from Metro Connection on May 15, 2009 click here.